The Girl Behind the Red Rope

The Girl Behind the Red Rope
By: Ted Dekker (with Rachelle Dekker)

I did not like Ted Dekker's recent books (i.e. The Mystic books) but I did like Rachelle Dekker's Seer trilogy, so I decided to give this book a try. Based on the previously mentioned books, I kind of knew what to expect: dystopian-ish setting, tangible evil (here- the Fury), a seductive evil person, a bunch of references to light and darkness, a Jesus-like child character who is either smiling, singing, or laughing, a green water experience, the seeming death of a 'savior'-type character, and a supernatural showdown. It had all the elements, and though the characters had new names, and now there was a crazy cult and a red rope, the story read like nothing new to me.

Really, it was entertaining to read until the last 40 pages or so. The Dekkers know how to create a suspenseful story to be sure, even if it's a 'remake', but sadly, Ted Dekker's writing has been more focused on this abstract theology than either a solid theological book (i.e. The Slumber of Christianity) or a thrill-focused book (i.e. Boneman's Daughters). I wish he would pick one or the other.

I am very curious to know how someone who is not a Christian would read and view this story. Which leads me to ask- who were the Dekkers targeting in writing this? Christians who have become legalistic or focused on fear and obedience instead of truth and grace? People who have not met God and known the truth at all? I think the answer to that would better inform how I review this book. But since I don't have that, here are some of my observations.

The theology Dekker has been touting is very abstract: 'we are light. light is love. love casts out fear. darkness can't threaten the light. you need to know who you are- light and love. open your eyes.' None of this is unbiblical. But if this is the only message you hear, there is no substance. There is no gospel. There is no 'object' of your faith. It leaves you with more questions than answers. Why are we light? Where is our hope? Why do we need it? What happens next? Maybe it's more 'beautiful' or poetic to just stay in the light/dark analogy, but you don't REALLY have the truth without Jesus, our sin nature, our need of a savior, Jesus' perfect atonement, and our subsequent gratitude and loving obedience.

For example: "Yes, Jesus, who made a way for all to see and be who they are beyond their blindness. This is the only way to know yourself in and as the light. You don't let go of the world because it's bad. You let go because your attachment to your fear-based self blinds you to who you are as the light. Simple." is how it's described. I don't find an intuitive gospel message here.

They say in the book that there is no death, just a passing. But there IS death. Death to self and our sinful desires. Death to our old life. It contradicts what Dekker says in his book, The Slumber of Christianity: "Our enemy has turned death into something to be feared and, by extension, swept under the rug. But when you sweep death under the rug, you will likely sweep the afterlife under the rug with it. By hiding death, you hide the afterlife, and by hiding the afterlife, you hide any hope you have in it." Sure, the 'don't fear death' message is the same. But he pleads here that if we don't see death for what it is, then the afterlife and the hope of eternal life is not our focus.

And this story doesn't tell us what they are hoping in. The push of the story is that they don't need to fear. They need to love. But why? How do they know they don't need to fear? Who is their hope? What exactly are they escaping and accepting by rejecting fear? It's all very vague.

The cult itself made me a little uncomfortable because it was supposedly based on Scripture and they called themselves Christians. I think the Dekkers are trying to shock Christians into recognizing the ways fear has taken control over parts of our lives or how we have watered down our faith to just be following a set of rules to obtain salvation. And I get that. And I suppose there really are cults in the world that probably claim to be Christians and claim to follow the Bible but operate similarly to this cult.

But without detailing the full gospel message of Christianity it felt a little bit like they were battling the cult's ideals with another set of crazy cult ideals. Same with the manifestation of 'Wisdom.' They didn't reveal until later that it was wisdom *according to the world*. I kept struggling with that relationship and evaluating how it fit into the truth of the gospel and biblical wisdom. It might have been better to reveal that earlier, but I suppose that was a revelation meant to be hidden until the end.

(Kudos if you made it this far.) Knowing where to land on this book is a challenge. Because we absolutely need to battle the clutches of fear that has infiltrated our faith. Some form of 'Do not be afraid' is repeated over and over again the Bible- so God knew we would struggle with this. And I agree that the devil uses fear to draw us away from the truth of who God is and what Jesus has done. Amen and amen.

And absolutely let's fight against the legalism of faith + works = salvation and the idea that all you need to do to be 'pure' is follow a bunch of rules and rituals. Again, amen and amen. But the gospel message was missing. And that's fine for a novel, I don't expect this in every Christian book, but if they're going to spend so much time on the light/dark analogy of faith and truth, than it's not so out of the realm to give a little more substance to their theology.

And there is a place for obedience. The Bible talks a lot about obedience. We can't biblically rid ourselves of it. We just need to approach it the correct way. SO, thumbs down to the vague and abstract theology. But also because of the all-too-familiar plot line. The title and book cover and the co-authoring with Rachelle, led me to hope that this book would read more like his stand alone thrillers but was disappointingly carried out like another branch of his 'Mystic' series.

Sidenote: I was reflecting on Ted Dekker's book, The Slumber of Christianity, and it is a really convicting and rich book that calls out complacent Christians. I hope that he finds his way out of these abstract, borderline universalism analogies and gets back to his theology that says,

"The fact is, nothing in this life can satisfy unless it is fully bathed in an obsession for eternity. Nothing. Not a purpose-driven life, not a grand adventure, not the love of a dashing prince or the hand of a beautiful maiden... Not our religion our faith, or any version of Christianity less focused on the prize that awaits." Or "We have been granted our inheritance as a matter of God's grace, not through any work we have done. Heaven is a gift to us. The enemy may make our lives quite miserable by robbing us of hope and rubbing our noses in sin, but when our eighty or so years on this earth end, we will see that his strategy has failed and we, the true followers of Christ, will only laugh at his desperate ploys."

Or:

"No matter how man will find pleasure within its fears and contrive usefulness from its gadgets, the machine of life is destined to lie in darkness unless fueled by the pearl of great hope. But powered by that fuel, the great machine will awaken with a thunder and fill the heart with an inexhaustible awe. Happy is the man who finds this pearl of great price."

Ted Dekker has the ability to speak the gospel in a rich and beautiful way, I've read it. But this new way of describing it is not, I believe, doing what he thinks it's doing.